Get Uncomfortable

Quick poll: Which feels better: Revolved Triangle or Couchasana? Depends on the goals of whom you ask. But here’s a little secret: love, victory, success, breakthrough—they all these come at the cost of comfort.

That’s why you should really tune into to where that voice telling you to skip yoga today is coming from. Is it self-care talking—or natural human laziness? Then make yourself do what you know is best for you. The choice is yours: You can veer toward health, or toward instant gratification.

This is the practice: Getting comfortable with what’s uncomfortable. Say hello to your glutes, revel in the glory of the fact that your body is capable of making the shape it is, your muscles are strong enough to hold you in it—shakily or not—and your mind is powerful enough to accept the discomfort for exactly what it is: Fleeting.